Oh, shit.
Someone had been there.
Spying on them.
As he stood there, it was a clear shot toward where they’d been making out on that blanket. Now, someone knew that Poe wasn’t just his doctor.
They knew that he was vital and vice versa.
That gave Von the edge unless he could find the creeper and end his life.
Now that night was falling, the person lurking had seemed to disappear, and he knew who he’d be tracking.
Another soldier.
Gamble would bet on it.
That person had managed to get damn close to him, and that took skill.
Now, Gamble knew the cold, hard truth.
They were running out of time, and that was trouble for them. For the next day, he just needed to keep Poe close, and his eye on him.
In the darkness of the trees, he followed the tracks, and saw that they moved down the riverbed for a while. It was when he saw they moved back across that he had no choice.
Gamble did what he did best.
He tracked a mercenary.
Because he didn’t like people sneaking around the estate where Poe was.
There was no doubt that they were going to have to get out of there. He was willing to bet that Von Donore was back up and operational Stateside.
It appeared that they were hunted once again.
* * * Poe & Gamble * * *
The Stable
An Hour Later
It was the longest hour of Poe’s life. The ride back only took five minutes, but the wait for Gamble to show up there…
It felt like forever.
Luckily, Poe managed to get back to the stable without getting his neck broken on Diablo, and that in itself was no small miracle.
The horse ran, but oddly, this time, he was far more cautious with him riding on his back—like he knew. Maybe he finally liked him, or being back home reminded him of Hemmingway.
They did look alike.
For the time being, he was in the stable, tucked into the stall with Diablo.
Why was he hanging out with the horse? Well, maybe because he didn’t know where to go.
If someone was on the estate, they could be anywhere. Five hundred acres was a lot of space to hide, and without Gamble with him, he was freaked out.
As he stayed with the horse, it wasn’t long before he heard footsteps.